"Huh? It just starts like that?"
The kettle hadn't finished boiling, but Qiao Liang ignored it for now and focused on the game.
There was no opening animation, no menus or settings—he was immediately thrust into the gameplay scene.
A winding road stretched endlessly into the desert horizon.
The game's camera was positioned inside the vehicle.
There was a simple instruction screen detailing two types of control schemes—keyboard and gamepad—both matching typical racing games currently on the market.
Qiao Liang briefly examined the graphics and controls, deciding they were acceptable enough.
After all, this was clearly built from a template, so while it wasn't particularly impressive, it wasn't outright terrible either.
Grabbing his gamepad and plugging it into his computer, Qiao Liang began the game.
The car's engine started.
Qiao Liang started driving along the desert road.
In-game, it was morning, shortly after sunrise, and the sunlight wasn't too harsh yet.
Occasionally, gusts of wind swept sand across the road. In the distance, sandstorms obscured the horizon, sometimes drastically reducing visibility.
The desert road wasn't straight; it periodically twisted, forcing the player to pay attention to steering.
Click. The kettle had finished boiling.
But Qiao Liang continued driving, slowly sinking into deep contemplation.
What am I doing?
What should I be doing?
What exactly does this game want me to do?
He had been driving for three full minutes, navigating multiple turns, but...
He couldn't find anything particularly interesting in the game.
Driving, making turns, watching sandstorms far away—other than that, the game offered literally nothing else.
There weren't even any other cars or vehicles passing by on the road!
Qiao Liang decided he'd better prepare his noodles.
Instinctively, he pressed the pause button on his gamepad.
Nothing happened.
"???"
Normally, pressing this button paused the game—but in this one, it had no effect at all.
Suspecting a glitch, he frantically pressed ESC, the spacebar, and the Enter key on his keyboard—
Still nothing happened.
This game couldn't be paused!
Qiao Liang was utterly stunned.
Amid his shock, he momentarily forgot to steer properly, missing a turn. The car veered off-road, its wheels immediately sinking into the sand.
"GAME OVER."
Those eight simple letters appeared abruptly on-screen.
Qiao Liang stared open-mouthed, dumbfounded.
This game had just shattered his understanding of bad games!
No, strictly speaking, this wasn't merely a "bad game."
Typically, bad games resulted from limited developer skills, inadequate funding, or a lack of resources, causing compromises and leaving a rough, unfinished impression.
But not this game.
This game seemed intentionally designed to torment players!
Why else would it lack even the most basic pause function, instantly ending with "game over" upon the smallest mistake—with no checkpoints or saves at all?
"Wait a minute... this game might actually have potential..."
"If I make a roast video about this, it might become popular!"
Qiao Liang quickly poured hot water into his cup noodles, grabbing his chopsticks and eagerly rereading the game's title and description.
"Lonely Desert Road. It specifically emphasizes the word 'Lonely.'"
"'A simulated driving journey that prompts insights about life'—Yes, it truly made me gain insight on life! This description isn't lying at all!"
"The more I think about it, the more obvious it is—this game is malicious to its very core!"
"The company behind this game is called Tengda Network Technology Co., Ltd.? Never heard of them. Looks like this is their only game."
"Tsk…"
After finishing his noodles, Qiao Liang picked up his gamepad once more.
This time, however, he activated his screen-recording software, intending to capture the entire gameplay experience.
. . .
Three hours later.
Qiao Liang momentarily lost concentration. He missed a turn, causing his car to skid into the sand, promptly triggering a cold "GAME OVER."
"Aaargh!!"
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!"
Qiao Liang nearly smashed his gamepad onto the desk in frustration.
Three hours—completely wasted!
Three precious hours of his life, spent driving aimlessly in a desert, had vanished, generating absolutely no value aside from an inflated electricity bill.
Even worse, the recording was effectively useless.
Three full hours of footage, and the only useful part was the last few seconds, usable solely for a fail compilation.
He tossed the gamepad onto his desk and stood up to calm himself down.
He restrained himself from breaking the controller solely because he couldn't afford another one. After all, a gamepad cost over two hundred yuan, and damaging it would severely hurt his wallet.
"Deep breath…"
"Calm down."
"It's all for work."
"At least this game successfully triggered my rage. For a trash game, that's actually an excellent trait."
Qiao Liang quickly regained his composure.
As a content creator dedicated to roasting terrible games, he'd seen worse.
This small setback was nothing he couldn't handle.
However, he realized something else clearly: beating this game would not be easy.
It was a real challenge.
Therefore, Qiao Liang picked up his phone and ordered takeout.
Fortunately, he had lost early enough—any later, and delivery services would have already stopped.
While waiting, he lay down and took a quick nap to regain energy.
After waking up and eating, he prepared a large cup of water on his desk, mentally preparing himself for a prolonged battle.
He had gradually begun to understand this game.
Did the game have difficulty? Not really.
Anybody with hands could finish it—this wasn't an exaggeration.
No sharp turns, no police chases, no speed requirements at all.
The only difficulty was sheer length.
Three hours hadn't even gotten him close to the finish line, and he had no idea how much further the road went.
Players typically accelerated to top speed, eager to finish quickly, which required continuous attention; otherwise, they'd miss a turn and have to restart entirely.
To avoid mistakes, players could drive slowly, but that approach stretched the game to absurd lengths.
"What a sick joke. This game is truly sadistic!"
Qiao Liang's motivation to roast this game reached unprecedented heights.
A game this absurd would make a fantastic roast video—just the title alone would attract countless viewers!
Gritting his teeth, Qiao Liang dived back into the game once again.
. . .
Over eight hours later.
It was now late at night.
"YES!!"
"I did it! I actually did it—I finished the damn game!"
Qiao Liang was on the verge of tears as he finally saw the finish line ahead.
It was nothing more than a generic black-and-white checkered finish line, a common resource used in countless racing games. But at this moment, that simple line felt unbelievably beautiful and welcoming to Qiao Liang.
Tears almost streamed down his face in joy.
Holding his gamepad, he stood up shakily from his chair.
His back hurt, his wrists cramped up, and his eyes were barely open after staring at the screen for so long.
But he'd done it—eight entire hours—and it finally meant something.
Qiao Liang was deeply moved by his own determination and perseverance. What kind of incredible spirit was this?
As he crossed the finish line, he felt like a racing legend.
At this moment, he was the coolest racer on Earth.
Then, suddenly, the screen went black, replaced by a single, emotionless line of text:
"Congratulations, you've successfully wasted 8 valuable hours of your life!"
- - - - - -
If you want to see more chapter of this fic for free, please go to my Scribblehub Account[1], I cross-poted this fic in there too.
Link: https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/[2]
[1] https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/
[2] https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/